30 days for refugees - Day 5

So, when we’re talking about refugees around the world, you might be wondering: where does Amnesty fit in?

Amnesty International addresses the biggest challenges in the world today - inequality on the rise, ongoing crises and conflicts, those in power clamping down on people’s freedoms and more people than ever before fleeing their homes and seeking safety elsewhere.

But to do that, we need your help to make sure we are the first on the scene in any emerging crisis, gathering crucial evidence so we can hold governments to account. And to make sure we can provide guidance and support to refugees at all stages of their journey; to help them find a safe welcome, so they can start to rebuild their lives.

But to really show you where we’re making a difference, you need to hear about how we helped Baraa and his family.

Baraa (not his real name), a US citizen originally from Yemen, was worried that his family would be permanently barred from the US as he knew there were plans to impose a travel ban. Baraa’s wife and eldest daughter didn’t have visas finalised, and he hadn’t applied for a visa for his one-year-old baby yet. So Baraa took his family and his wife to Kuala Lumpur, as that is one of the only places Yemeni citizens can make visa applications. The travel ban came into force while he was there, but the baby still didn’t have a visa. So he made the heartbreaking decision to leave their baby daughter in Malaysia, in the care of friends, to make sure that the rest of his family would be allowed into the US.

It was an incredibly difficult time for the whole family, but thanks to intervention from Amnesty International, after more than two months’ separation, the family was finally granted an immigration interview for the baby. And then finally, a couple of weeks later, Baraa was able to fly back to the US with his daughter in his arms.

Your donation to Amnesty will help us keep fighting for everyone’s rights, whenever and wherever they need us. Together, we are powerful. Please make a donation today.